Norwell, Weymouth hot dog store owner relishes Blackhawks hockey

Windy City Dogs and More is a taste of Chicago at Queen Anne’s Corner Norwell. It sells Italian beef sandwiches and Chicago-style Vienna beef hot dogs with mustard, neon green relish, chopped onions, a tomato slice, sport peppers, a pickle wedge and celery salt, all stuffed into a poppy seed bun. It is also a Blackhawks outpost in the middle of Bruins Country.

Owner Grady Carlson grew up in Evanston, Ill., just north of Chicago, and he’s a die-hard Blackhawks fan. He’s taken some heat for it, but he’s not about to change teams.

“It’s mostly been good-natured,” Carlson said at his Washington Street shop Sunday afternoon. “We’ve had a few regulars say they are boycotting us for the duration” of the Stanley Cup Final. “As they leave now, it’s not ‘Have a nice day.’ It’s ‘go Bruins’ or ‘go Hawks.’”

There was one customer who went a bit further, taking down a poster of the Blackhawks logo that hangs on the wall.

When Carlson went to the table and asked the customer if everything was all right, the response was, “Everything’s fine, except for the sign.”

After Saturday’s 3-1 loss, the Bruins must win tonight on home ice or the Blackhawks return to Chicago with the Cup. A Bruins win means the teams will play Wednesday for the championship.

The sports memorabilia on Windy City’s walls is almost all Chicago, with the exception of a poster-sized photo of Bobby Orr’s Stanley Cup-winning goal for the Bruins in 1970, signed by No. 4 himself. Carlson points out that Orr was a Blackhawk at the end of his career, playing a total of 26 games over three seasons.

A photo of the 2010 champion Blackhawks team is above the potato chip rack.

Carlson opened the restaurant in October. His original location on Middle Street in Weymouth has been open for six years.

“Our Saturdays and Sundays are mostly a parade of ex-Chicagoans coming in and out,” he said.

Carlson’s relationship with the Blackhawks goes back a long way. In the 1970s, his father used to manage the rink where the team practiced.

“I used to go in the locker room as a kid,” Carlson said.

He said he plays some pickup hockey at Pilgrim Arena in Hingham.

One other concession Carlson makes to the local team’s faithful is a Bruin dog, which is topped with baked beans and peppers.

“It’s more of an angry Bruin dog,” he said.

Carlson, who lives in Weymouth, said the speed of the Blackhawks forwards gives them the advantage over the hard-hitting Bruins.

“At the start, I said Chicago in six. But I don’t expect the Bruins to lay down, so I now think it will go seven,” Carlson said. “Going in, I thought this whole series was based on pace. Games 4 and 5 were played more at our pace than their pace. We’re getting the bounces, and you need the bounces to win.”

Page 2 of 2 - Ron Whitham of Weymouth was wearing a Bruins T-shirt while he had lunch at Windy City. He said he hopes the Bruins can still pull it out, but admits it will be tough.